Journal Entry - 3031.14.15
For three weeks we traversed mazes of canyons. Despite the warnings, we saw no apparitions of ancestors who appeared to turn us away or to lead us astray. We had particular success with that one all on our own. Time after time we'd round a bend and find ourselves at the end. It is impossible to guess how many miles we put on our boots retracing our steps.
At last, we stumbled upon a beautiful little canyon perfectly sited at a bend with a sunny exposure. There is a burbling stream arising from a spring that cascades down a tumble of rocks and gathers in a pool with an abundance of cottonwood, olive, tamarisk, juniper and hackberry that still had ripened fruits.
Things to be thankful for: we don't have to haul water as far as we did when we were in Ghost City. We do have to follow animal trails winding down and back up from the pond.
In our journeys, we collected sacks of every edible thing we could find. We still have some stores of food, particularly dried meat and fruit that we stocked up on before we left the caravanserai but those are uncomfortably low.
We have identified many edible and medicinal plants as well as plenty of signs of animals to hunt: mule deer, cottontails and jackrabbits. We had a brief glimpse of sheep on the higher elevations. Tonight we dined on roast jackrabbit, thanks again to Zhen's phenomenal sling skills. There are predators including coyotes, bobcats and mountain lions to be alert for. We also saw fox tracks at the water's edge.
We have found The sacks are too vulnerable to rodent theft. A good past-time during the coming long winter months will be weaving baskets from the grasses and willows all around.
Clouds coming from the south tell us that our timing is just right for finding this place. Clouds from the north mean rain and the imminent threat of flash floods. Clouds from from the south mean blizzards.
Our camp is on a sunny little bench about 15 feet above the canyon floor. We think we figured it out. It seems in much earlier epochs, the canyon was narrower and flood waters were flung off the east side and ricocheted against the west. This is how our lovely little cave system was carved out of the sandstone.
Smaller window sized openings and a multitude of even smaller ones dot the rock face - nice for ventilation right now. A somewhat urgent task is to weave barriers for winter.
We set up our yurt cloth to extend out from the cave. This way, it provides very needed shade and cross ventilation which is lovely right now. The air is very dry and the sun quite brutal. Later we can convert the tent into the yurt and bring the horses in if the weather is too brutal.
Long day, time for sleep.
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Draft Excerpt - Forbidden Lands
Science FictionMy characters have been on an epic quest to locate clues to a startling discovery. They are now in the Forbidden Lands where the myths declare that none who enters these lands returns. Only one is every known to have done so. My characters are cert...
